Amazon launches one­-hour restaurant delivery service in the UK

Amazon Restaurants has officially announced it will allow its Prime members in certain postcodes across London, to order food from selected restaurants for free delivery within an hour.

According to BigHospitality's sister publication MCA Insight​, restaurants initially included in the new app are Strada, Gastronomica and Planet Hollywood to Crazy Bear and the Michelin­-starred Benares.

Amazon has said there will be no menu mark-­ups or hidden fees to use the delivery service, which will apply to orders with a minimum value of £15. It was launched in Seattle a year ago and has been rolled out to 14 more cities since. It also follows the launch of Amazon Fresh food deliveries in the UK in June.

According to Amazon, there are 'millions' of Amazon Prime members in the UK. It is aiming to attract people to its prime subscription, costing £79 a year.

Busy market​

Al Wilkinson, the head of Amazon Restaurants, said: “London offers some of the best cuisine from around the world, so we’re delighted that Amazon Prime customers can now enjoy food from their favourite restaurants via Amazon’s ultra-­fast Prime Now service.

“Based on our own research into what is important to consumers in food delivery, our team have hand­-picked a selection of the best quality local restaurants in London. “We’re excited to be helping many of these small businesses start offering home delivery for the very first time.”

Its launch in the UK sees it entering an already busy market comprising Deliveroo and Uber. In June, the taxi app company introduced UberEATS to central London, allowing users to have food delivered from nearby restaurants within 30 minutes via a dedicated app and website for a charge of between £2 and £2.50 but with no minimum order price'.